GENERAL INFORMATION

 

Capital: Pereira
Altitude: 1.410 meters ( Pereira )
Temperature: 24 degrees C
Number of municipalities: 14
Population: 550.000
Economy: Textiles, commerce, agriculture, coffee, citrus, pineapple, casaba, beans, tomato, plantain, banana, tropical flowers, tourism. Telephone prefix : 6 (096)
Getting there: air or land
Distance and time to Bogota:
Land: 298 km
Air: 25 minutes

This region was once inhabited, before the Spanish conquest, by the Quimbaya indigenous peoples. During the conquest, this tribe was exterminated by the Spanish and, unfortunately, never recuperated. Risaralda was founded in 1966 when Old Caldas was divided into the three departments of Caldas, Risaralda, and Quindio.

ATTRACTIONS

COMMERCE
(Check out our section of activities and commerce in the coffee region)

PEREIRA: "La querendona, trasnochadora y morena" "The beloved, all-nighter, and dark city" Industrial center, commerce and capital of the department.

NATURE
(Check out our section of activities in the coffee region)

MARSELLA: 45 minutes from Pereira, Marsella conserves a great part of the typical architecture of the Coffee Region -- the House of Culture stands out among the prettiest and best-preserved buildings. In Marsella, you can visit the Nona Reserve, the Botanical Garden, the Immaculate Temple and a number of beautiful coffee farms.
(Check out our section of activities in Risaralda)

SANTA ROSA DE CABAL HOT SPRINGS: 8 km from Santa Rosa is a charming and pristine place where you can enjoy medicinal hot springs surrounded by ecological paths, mud baths and more.
(Check out our section of activities in Risaralda)

OTUN LAGOON : The source of the River Otun that flows through Pereira, the capital of Risaralda. The Lagoon has a spectacular landscape -- flora and fauna. Here, you'll enjoy walking through fields of frailejónes, The Mosquito Lagoon, and a view of Santa Rosa, the Nevado of Tolima, and Santa Isabel.
(Check out our section of activities in the coffee region)

UCUMARI RESERVE: 4, 240 hectares of High Andean Forest with a grand variety of fauna, flora, beautiful waterfalls. It's where, if you're lucky, you can see the famous Eyeglass Bears "oso de anteojos."
(Check out our section of activities in the coffee region)

 

ACTIVITIES

FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

HARVEST FESTIVAL : Celebrated in Pereira in the month of August, it's a week of cultural and social activities, a beauty pageant, and the festival of orchids.

GASTRONOMY

 

Beans cooked with pork, served with ground beef, rice, plantain, avocado, fried eggs, chorizos, fried pig skin, and sweet plantain create this amazing dish called bandeja paisa. It's certainly not for the small eater!

Mazamorra -- a corn drink with milk and sweet guava or sugar cane is a typical Pereira drink. Also, we recommend corn arepas with cheese, buñuelos and natilla (cheese donuts and cinnamon pudding, typical during the Christmas season), exquisite fruit salads with cream or ice cream, las solteritas (a cookie served with condensed milk), and Cerritos' famous corn arepas with cheese, baked in a wood stove.

And, while you're here, drink all the exquisite fruit juices you can! Mango, papaya, guava (sweet and sour), passion fruit, sour sop and more. With milk or water -- you choose!

The traditional alcohol of the region is aguardiente (made out of sugar cane and anis).

TRANSPORTATION

Air:
Airports
International Matecaña Tel 360021 - 26

Commercial Airlines:
Avianca
Satena
Intercontinental
Aerorepublica

Land
Bus Terminal: ( Buses, taxis )
Address: Calle 17 No 23-157 Tel: 354437 354438 354439

 

COMMUNICATION

Newspapers:

El Diario del Otun
La Tarde

Regional Station :

Telecafe

 

HOTELS - LODGING

FOOD - RESTAURANTS

ENTERTAINMENT